Basant Meghwal and Shahnavaz Khan win medals at World Athletics U20 Champs 2026, Eugene, Oregon; India’s first high jump and long jump medals.
World Athletics U20 Championships 2026: Basant Kumar Meghwal, Shahnavaz Khan break new ground for India
World Athletics U20 Championships 2026: Basant Kumar Meghwal, Shahnavaz Khan break new ground for India
Basant Meghwal’s silver made him the first Indian to win a high jump medal, while Shahnavaz Khan became the first man from the country to win a long jump medal at the meet.
Basant Kumar Meghwal ’s silver in the high jump and Shahnavaz Khan ’s bronze in the long jump marked a landmark moment for India at the World Athletics U20 Championships 2026 , taking the country’s medal tally in Eugene, Oregon to three.
On Saturday, Basant Kumar Meghwal became the first Indian athlete to win a high jump medal at the World Athletics U20 Championships , equalling a personal-best 2.21m.
The 19-year-old Basant had previously cleared the same height at the Junior Federation Cup in Bengaluru in April.
At the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in May, Basant cleared 2.20m for the gold medal in Hong Kong China.
Basant Meghwal opened his campaign in Eugene with a first-attempt clearance of 2.06m, then needed two attempts to clear 2.12m. He then cleared 2.17m at the first time of asking and matched his personal best of 2.21m on his second attempt.
He failed to clear 2.24m in all three attempts but his 2.21m effort was enough to secure silver on countback and earn India a historic medal in the event.
“In the last attempt at 2.24, I was a bit nervous, but it’s okay,” Basant told Olympics.com . “I will do better next time in senior competitions now.”
Algeria’s Younes Ayachi won the gold medal, while Great Britain’s Otis Poole bagged the bronze, with all three athletes succeeding at 2.21m but failing to clear 2.24m.
Younes Ayachi won gold on countback, clearing 2.21m on his first try, while Basant Meghwal and Otis Poole cleared the same height on their second and third attempts, respectively.
Meanwhile, Shahnavaz Khan, also an U20 Asian champion, became the first Indian man to win a long jump medal at the World Athletics U20 Championships after securing bronze with a best effort of 7.84m.
Shaili Singh had previously won silver in the women’s long jump at the 2021 edition.
Shahnavaz Khan, who holds a personal best of 8.30m set at the Indian Championships in June, opened with 7.67m before improving to 7.72m and then producing his medal-winning leap of 7.84m on his third attempt.
He followed it with jumps of 7.52m, 7.83m and 5.37m.
Italy’s Daniele Leonardo Inzoli won gold with 7.97m, while Australia’s Mason McGroder took silver with a personal-best 7.96m.
Shahnavaz Khan and Basant Kumar Meghwal’s medals took India’s tally at the World Athletics U20 Championships 2026 to three, following Ashish Yadav’s silver in the javelin throw on Friday.
The three medals match India’s best tally from the 2021 and 2022 championships, which also produced two silvers and a bronze.
India have won two golds in World Athletics U20 Championships history, courtesy of Neeraj Chopra in the javelin throw in 2016 and Hima Das in the 400m in 2018. In both editions, the gold was India’s only medal.
Picture by Asian U20 Athletics Championships 2026
Indian athletes who ruled track and field - complete list